What People Love About start.me
Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
- Best-in-class bookmark management — folders, tags, per-bookmark notes, and a curated template gallery.
- A free tier that covers most personal use, with an honest $25/year PRO upgrade for unlimited pages and premium widgets.
- Strong B2B and team features — branded dashboards, SAML SSO, and shared workspaces priced for organizations.
- Integrated RSS reader so news and bookmarks live in the same dashboard.
- A long history with the OSINT, research, and corporate intranet crowd, with established workflows and templates.
Where Start Page HQ Goes Further
Specific differences, not vague claims.
50+ Widgets, Not Just Bookmarks & RSS
start.me is bookmark-first with a small set of side widgets (notes, weather, calendar, RSS). Start Page HQ ships 50+ widgets covering Kanban tasks, Pomodoro, habit tracker, AI tools, podcasts, dev tools, and a lot more — all in one plan.
Modern Productivity Widgets
Kanban boards, Pomodoro timer, habit tracker, AI quick answer, daily quote, world clock, countdown — productivity widgets that turn a start page into a real workspace, not just a bookmark hub.
AI Where You Work
AI image generation, translation, instant answers, daily news summaries, and AI diary — all available as widgets you can drop onto any page. start.me has no AI features.
Built-In Developer Tools
JSON formatter, regex tester, text diff, base64 encoder, QR code generator, image compression, unit converter, GitHub releases — tools you used to keep in 8 separate browser tabs.
One Plan, Everything Included
start.me locks several widgets behind PRO ($25/year) and pushes Teams ($30/month) for richer features. Start Page HQ has one personal plan ($25/year or $49 lifetime) that unlocks every widget, multi-page dashboards, sync, and AI credits — no premium gates.
Native Browser Extensions on Every Browser
start.me has Chrome, Firefox, and Edge extensions but no Safari. Start Page HQ ships a native Safari extension on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS, plus extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, plus the hosted web app.
Built for Personal Productivity
start.me leans heavily into team and intranet use cases. Start Page HQ is built for individuals who want a personal command center — a faster fit if you want a dashboard for yourself, not for a department.
Side-by-Side Comparison
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | start.me | Start Page HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / $25/yr PRO / $30/mo Teams | $25/yr or $49 lifetime |
| Free tier | Yes (limited) | Free demo only |
| Widget / integration count | ~15 | 50+ |
| Chrome | Yes | Yes |
| Firefox | Yes | Yes |
| Safari | No | Yes |
| Edge | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted web app | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-device sync | Cloud account | Included |
| Multi-page dashboards | Yes | Yes |
| Bookmark management | Yes | Yes |
| RSS / Hacker News / Reddit / podcasts | RSS only | All four |
| Kanban tasks | No | Yes |
| Pomodoro timer | No | Yes |
| Habit tracker | No | Yes |
| AI tools (image gen, translation, summary) | No | Yes |
| Developer tools (JSON, regex, diff, etc.) | No | Yes |
| Team / SSO features | Teams plan | No |
| Branded dashboards | Teams plan | No |
| Lifetime plan | No | $49 once |
Widgets That Replace start.me
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered start.me's core features — plus a lot more.
Links
Organize your bookmarks into clean, customizable groups — start.me's core bookmark-management pattern, modernized.
Collection
Save URLs and images for read-later, wish lists, backlogs, or any other curated set of resources.
Feed
Follow RSS feeds, blogs, and publications right from your start page — same idea as start.me's built-in RSS reader.
Frequently Asked Questions
start.me PRO is $25/year — the same as Start Page HQ Annual. Start Page HQ also has a $49 one-time lifetime plan, which works out cheaper than start.me PRO over 2 years. start.me has a free tier; Start Page HQ has a free demo at startpagehq.com/demo but no permanent free tier.
Start Page HQ is built for personal productivity — there's no Teams plan, no SAML SSO, and no branded shared workspaces. If you need a multi-user intranet portal with team admin tools, start.me Teams or Enterprise is the better fit. If you want a personal command center, Start Page HQ is leaner and cheaper.
There is no automated importer, but recreating your setup is straightforward. Export your bookmarks from start.me, open the live demo at startpagehq.com/demo, drop on Links and Collection widgets, and paste in your URLs.
start.me has no Safari extension. Start Page HQ has a native Safari extension on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS, plus the hosted web app at startpagehq.com that works in Safari and every other browser.
Yes, and sync is included in the base price (no PRO upgrade required). Sign in once and your pages, widgets, links, and notes sync across every browser and device automatically.
Yes. The Links widget covers grouped bookmarks with custom titles and icons. The Collection widget covers read-later, wish lists, and curated sets with image previews. Together they replicate start.me's core bookmark experience, with 47+ other widgets sitting next to them when you want more than just bookmarks.